18CLE

18CLE Rulebook

Table of Contents

18CLE - Rules of Play
1 - Introduction
2 - Starting Round
3 - Stock Round
4 - Operating Round
5 - Standings Round
6 - Glossary
7 – RTA Rules
8 – Historical Notes
18CLE - Appendices
- 1 - Tiles available
18CLE - Sequence of Play

18CLE - Rules of Play

1 - Introduction

1.1 - Game Description

18CLE is a railroad game set in Cleveland, Ohio from 1848 to 1980. The players take on the role of railroad investors, promoters and Presidents with the general objective of making money. Their methods may reflect a greater or lesser degree of public responsibility depending on their personal inclinations.

A player's wealth is accumulated mainly through owning shares of Stock in the several Railroad Corporations included in the game. Stock shares make money in two ways: they can provide ready cash via dividend payments and they can increase in value. The single largest Stockholder in a Corporation becomes its President and operates the Corporation, ideally, but not necessarily, for the benefit of all Stockholders.

The play of 18CLE is composed of an initial routine (Starting Round), a certain number of Game Turns (each composed of a Stock Round and one to three Operating Rounds), and a final routine (Standings Round).

In the Starting Round the players receive their initial positions; in a Stock Round they have the opportunity to buy and sell Stock in Corporations; in an Operating Round they perform the various functions concerned with running a Corporation; in the Standings Round they determine the final standings.

The game ends when either:

The Bank funds are exhausted.
A Stock Certificate reaches $500 in value.
All nine public corporations fall into RTA.

The winner is the wealthiest player at the end of the game. A player's wealth is made up of his / her personal cash and his / her Stock Certificates - at current market values (Corporation assets, whether funds, Stock, or trains, are not counted in the total).

1.2 - Game Components

1.2.1 – Rulebook

The Rulebook is the 25 page manual that you are currently referencing.

1.2.2 – Game Board

A hexagonal grid is superimposed on the game board. During the game, the track tiles are laid on this grid. The playable area has a beige background. Some hexes have markings (stations, values, names, colors, etc.). The blue area represents Lake Erie. You will notice two winding blue lines heading south from Lake Erie. The western line represents Rocky River and the eastern line (central relative to the map board) represents the Cuyahoga River. The hexes that these two rivers run through are the only terrain cost penalties that companies must pay to lay track; all other hexes are free to lay yellow tiles on.

On the stock market table, which is located in the blue field (Lake Erie) above the hex grid on the game board, plastic tokens track the price of company stocks as they change during the game. The red box indicates the initial par values available. The gray boxes below the stock market and above the hex grid track the par values. Two sets of plastic tokens are included;

One for the stock value
One for the par value

1.2.3 – Priority Card

The priority card is used to indicate the priority deal, which determines who is the first player to get an action during a stock round. The priority card is also used to determine the president of the RTA, which can change at the end of each stock round.

The reverse side of the Priority card shows the 10% earnings received from revenue generated by RTA operations. The priority card does not count toward certificate limits nor does it provide share value in the final scoring round.

1.2.4 – Private Company Cards

There are 8 private company cards; all of which are auctioned off at the beginning of the game.

1.2.5 – Company Charters

There are nine company charters; one for each public corporation. The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority's charter is located on the game board in the lower left corner.

As a player can be director of several companies during the game, all trains, tokens and money of each company are kept separate for each company on its company charter. The company charters also have important game information listed on them such as train limits and tile availability depending on what phase the game is currently in.

1.2.6 – Track Tiles

There are a total of 139 (hex) track tiles. Yellow, green, brown and gray tiles are used during the game to build trolley networks. Yellow tiles are available for use from the start of the game until the end. The other colored tiles become available as the phases of the game change, which is dependent on which trains have been purchased by corporations. The track tiles are enumerated in the appendices.

1.2.7 – Train Cards

There are a total of 42 train cards. These represent the trolleys used in the game. The price and the range of each vehicle are indicated on its card. Each card has a photo of a trolley from the different time periods. These photos are from the Cleveland Public Library and are in the public domain.

There are 90 share certificates total.

There are two types of shares:

The trolley company shares, consisting of 8 single share certificates representing 10 % each and 1 President's share certificate, representing 20 % of the company.
The RTA company shares, consisting of 18 single share certificates each representing 5 % and 1 share certificate for the president of the board of directors. The president's share certificate represents 10 % and is located on the reverse side of the Priority Card.

1.2.9 – Tokens

There are a total of 64 tokens; 22 plastic and 42 wooden. The wooden tokens are used to indicate the stations of each corporation. The plastic tokens track the share price and par value of each corporation on the stock market table. Each company has a number of tokens of a single color. The numbers and colors are listed in the table within section 3.3. There is one plastic token (City Council) that tracks the number of operating rounds. There are two plastic tokens marked '+10' and '+20' respectively for the West Side Market private company; one of the two tokens may be placed on the game board to upgrade the revenue generated by a stop.

1.2.10 – Game Money

The bank has a total of $12,000. Most 18xx game groups use poker chips to represent game money. Depending on which game kit you have purchased there may or may not be paper money included.

1.3 – Preparing for Play

Lay out the board and place all the money in the Bank and the eight Private Companies on the board.

The train cards should be sorted by class and laid out on the Available Trains square located on the map board near the upper left corner. Start with the 2 train cards on the top of the stack and then place each card in numerical order with the 6D train at the bottom of the stack. This will allow players to see the cost and which class of train is currently available during the game.

The track tiles must also be laid out so as to be available for inspection and use. Only the yellow tiles are needed at first, but the others are relevant to planning for the later stages of the game and should be available for inspection.

The Corporation Charters can be placed beside the map board and the Stock Certificates are placed on the appropriate locations on the IPO Chart, with the President's Certificate on top in each case.

The RTA certificates are placed in a stack above the RTA charter located near the left edge of the game board.

Play may now commence.

2 - Starting Round

2.1 - Seat Assignment step

The appropriate number of Wooden Station tokens; numbered one to number of players (three to six) are placed in a cup, then each player draws one token randomly from the cup. The players then take their seats in clockwise order, and the task of managing the bank should be divided between the first and the last player, with the Bank put in a position between the two.

2.2 - Initial Money Assignment step

The initial money is given to the players, in the amounts shown in the table on the right.

Players	To Each Player
3	$700
4	$550
5	$500
6	$450

2.3 - Corporation Sorting step

At the start of the game all nine public corporations are available to be purchased and may open in any order. The RTA certificates can never be purchased and are only available to share holders of companies which merge into the RTA.

2.3.1 – Corporation with Special Abilities

Cleveland, Southwestern & Columbus Special Ability

The Cleveland Southwestern & Columbus Railroad (CSC) floats at 20%, which means that after the private corporations are all successfully auctioned off it will start the game floated. No additional shares need to be sold out of the IPO for the CSC to operate in the first operating round of the game. This is the only corporation that floats at less than 60%.

Shaker Heights Rapid Special Ability

The first operating round after the Shaker Heights Rapid (SHR) successfully floats (60% of the shares are sold out of the IPO) it will operate first. This breaks the normal rule that corporation operate in share value order. This rule applies only to the very first operating round in which the SHR operates. It will operate in the normal sequence based on share value relative to other corporations after this operating round.

Akron, Bedford & Cleveland Special Ability

The Akron, Bedford and Cleveland Railroad (ABC) doubles the value of the red Akron station when determining revenue for trains running to Akron. These values are doubled for every color phase; yellow, green, brown and gray. The ABC is the only company that gets to double the value of the Akron station. Other corporations that run to Akron score it normally for generating revenue. Note that the RTA does not inherit this ability if the ABC merges into the RTA.

2.4 - Private Companies Assignment step

The Banker begins the game by offering for sale, one at a time and in order of increasing value, the Private Companies available at the start of the game. He / she starts with the player who drew the lowest number place token (this could be himself / herself) and offers him/her the first company, the Euclid Railroad, using the procedure given in Rule 2.4.1. If player #1 buys The Euclid Railroad at face value, the Union Depot is then offered to the next player and so on in clockwise rotation. If player #1 passes the opportunity to buy the Euclid Railroad, it is offered to player #2, and so on.

Only after all the Private Companies have been bought may the Banker begin selling stock in the public Corporations. When buying stops, the player on the left of the last person to buy is given the Priority Deal card.

Name	Cost	Rev.	Notes
Euclid Railroad	$20	$5	A Corporation cannot lay track in the E-26 hex until this Company is either eliminated or bought by any Corporation.
Union Depot	$35	$5	Only the owning corporation may upgrade hex E-18 to green and brown colored tiles. No connection to hex E-18 is required by the owning corporation to make these upgrades, but they do count toward the corporation's tile lay for the operating round. Upgrading hex E-18 to brown closes the Union Depot.
West Side Market	$40	$10	The owning Corporation may do one of three things: upgrade any stop that it runs to by plus $10 revenue; upgrade Ohio City by plus $20 revenue if it can legally run to Ohio City; upgrade any yellow stop to a yellow station maintaining existing track assuming the correct station tile is still available. Using any one of the abilities closes the West Side Market.
Central Viaduct	$60	$10	Blocks east – west routes over the Cuyahoga River until any corporation buys this company. The owning corporation may place one tile on any river hex for free. Placing the free tile closes the Central Viaduct.

2.4.1 - Initial Purchase of Private Companies

While at least one Private Company remains unsold a player must, in his / her turn, do one of the following:

Buy the Private Company offered at face value;
Bid for another as yet unsold Private Company;
Pass (i.e., elect not to make any deal).

2.4.2 - Making a Bid for a Private Company

A bid for a Private Company not yet offered for sale must exceed the face value of the company (or of any other bid already made for it) by at least $5. The player must place the bid money in front of him / her on the table and not use it for any other purpose until ownership of the company is resolved. Any number of players may bid for the same company. A player gains no benefit from bidding twice for the same company. A Company that has been bid on is not offered for sale in the usual way. Instead, once the company preceding it has been sold, the normal procedure stops. If only one bid has been received, the Private Company is sold to the player concerned for the amount bid. If several bids have been made an auction is held in which all bidders (but no one else) take part. The starting price for the auction is the highest sum bid, and the minimum raise is $5. A player purchasing a company by auction may use the money they have already staked in the original bid to make the purchase. Unsuccessful bidders are now free to use the money they set aside as their bid. Play then resumes with the player to the left of the last player to buy a company offered by the Banker.

2.4.3 - Private Companies Assignment example

The following sequence can happen in a four-player game:

The Euclid Railroad is offered for $20:

player #1 ($550): Bids $115 for the Terminal Tower;
player #2 ($550): Bids $120 for the Terminal Tower;
player #3 ($550): Bids $65 for the Central Viaduct;
Player #4 ($550): Buys the Euclid Railroad for $20.

The Union Depot is offered for $35:

Player #1 ($435): Bids $85 for Azko Nobel Salt, Inc,;
Player #2 ($430): Buys the Union Depot for $35;

The West Side Market is offered for $40:

Player #3 ($495): Buys the West Side Market for $40.

This halts the normal turns of the round and triggers the following chain of events:

At first, the Central Viaduct is sold to player #3 for $65 (the Central Viaduct would be the next to be sold and there is a single bid on it);
Then, Azko Nobel Salt, Inc. is sold to player #1 for $85 (Azko Nobel Salt, Inc. would be the next to be sold and there is a single bid on it);
Then an auction is held between players #1 and #2 for the Terminal Tower. Player #2's bid of $120 is high, and player #1 must raise the bid to at least $125 or drop out.

Regardless of who wins the auction, when the Terminal Tower is finally sold the round returns to its normal sequence; The Cleveland, Painesville & Ashtabula Railroad is offered to player #4 for its face value of $135.

2.4.4 - Failure to Sell Private Companies

If a complete Stock Round fails to sell the Euclid Railroad, then another Stock Round begins immediately. The Euclid Railroad is offered again but for $5 less than face value. This procedure may be repeated if necessary, the price being reduced in $5 decrements until a buyer is found. If there is no buyer at $5, then the first player offered it at $5 must accept it now for free. This counts as a purchase. If any other Private Company fails to find a buyer after a complete Round, the Starting Round ends in the usual way and revenue is paid to each Private Company that has been bought. Another Starting Round then begins. This situation may continue for several Rounds.

2.4.5 – RTA Board of Directors

The RTA does not function in the same way as the other corporations. The RTA is a government controlled entity which appoints a board of directors every few years. These directors change over time and are not necessarily based on the most qualified, experienced or influential candidates available. To simulate this process the player possessing the Priority Deal Card is 'nominated' to be president of the RTA over the next set of operating rounds. The president may change or remain the same at the end of each stock round; based on the player who controls the Priority Deal Card. Note that the player that owns the most certificates of RTA stock is not the president and may not even be on the board of directors at all depending on seating order and Priority Deal location.

The players sitting directly to the right and left of the player that possesses the Priority Deal Card are also on the board of directors for the next set of operating rounds.

2.4.5.1 – RTA Stock Rules

RTA stock is obtained by exchanging shares of corporations that are forced to merge into the RTA. There is an exchange rate listed in the following table.

Total Number of Corporations in RTA	Exchange Rate
1	1 to 1
2	2 to 1
3	2 to 1
4	3 to 1
5	3 to 1
6	4 to 1
7	4 to 1
8	5 to 1
9	5 to 1

This is how many 10% shares of the merging corporation are required to receive one 5% share of RTA stock. If multiple companies are forced to merge into the RTA simultaneously then all shares of all corporations that are merging are pooled together from each player's holding and each player trades their total in to receive as many shares of RTA that they can qualify for. Any left over shares are lost and the player receives no compensation for these shares. The total companies within RTA equals the amount previously merged companies added to the amount of companies currently forced to merge. The net total is used to determine the exchange rate of merging corporation shares for RTA shares. If there are not any shares of RTA stock remaining, then the player(s) receive nothing.

Example: When the first 4 train was purchased the SHR was the only company that did not possess a train, since it only owned '2' trains and they just all rusted by the purchase of the first 4 train. All players owning shares of SHR immediately receive one 5% share of RTA for each 10% share of SHR, since only one corporation is merged into RTA at this time and there were no previous corporations in RTA. Note that the president certificate of any corporation counts as two 10% shares for trade in purposes. Later in the same game when the first 8 train is purchased three more corporations find themselves without any trains, since they all owned '4' trains. The CSC, ABC and C&E are all in this situation and are forced to merge into the RTA. Player #1 owns 60% of the CSC, 10% of the ABC and 10% of the C&E. The current exchange rate is 3 to 1 since four corporations are now in the RTA. The SHR from earlier plus the ABC, C&E and CSC yields 4 total. Player #1 has a total of eight 10% shares that they need to exchange. You divide the total 10% shares by the exchange rate, which in this case is 8 / 3 equals 2.66666. Rounding fractions down Player #1 would receive two 5% RTA shares. Unfortunately player #1 lost the value of two shares of stock in this exchange. If player #1 possessed one more share of the ABC or C&E then they would have received three shares of RTA stock (9/3) in this case.

Players may not purchase shares of RTA stock although they can sell certificates that they own. Each 5% share of the RTA sold yields 50% of the current stock value. Selling shares of the RTA does not drop RTA's stock value. Shares sold this way are returned to the RTA certificate stack located near the left edge of the game board and are not placed in the Bank Pool for purchase by other players.

3 - Stock Round

During this activity each player, starting with the Priority Deal Cardholder, can perform a Selling step, a Buying step or a Corporation Starting step in any order, but you may not perform the same step twice in a single stock round action. Example: You can buy a single share of stock then sell as many shares as you wish, but you may not sell / buy / sell in a single stock round action.

When he / she has finished then play proceeds to the next player on his / her left until all players have passed consecutively, when the Stock Round ends with a Stock Round Ending step.

Please note that:

A player may have several turns to operate in a single Stock Round;
A Stock Round will keep going as long as players continue to take actions;
A player is not precluded from further dealing because he / she has passed, as the Round may be kept going by someone else and anyone is then free to resume trading subsequently.

When everyone has stopped trading the player on the left of the last player to buy or sell is given the Priority Deal card. This signifies that he / she will have the first opportunity to operate in the next Stock Round.

If no deals take place during a Stock Round, the holding player retains the Priority Deal card.

3.1 - Players' Stock Selling step

During this step a player can either:

Sell one or more of his / her personal Corporate Stock Certificate(s) at the current market value;
Pass.

In order to sell one or more Stock Certificates the player has to perform the following activities:

He / she moves the Certificates to be sold to the Bank Pool;
The Banker gives him / her an amount of money equal to the current market value of the sold Certificates;
The Banker moves the Stock Market token of the Corporation whose Stock has been sold (in current market value order), one row down for each 10% Share sold.

A player cannot sell a Certificate of a Corporation if:

With the sale the Bank Pool would contain more than half of the stock of a single Corporation.

Please note that:

If a player sells a Certificate of a certain Corporation he / she cannot buy Stock of the same Corporation until the next game turn;
Certificates placed in the Bank Pool are available to be purchased;
All sales of Stock from the Bank Pool are made at the current price on the Stock Market;
All sales of Stock from the Corporate IPO are made at par value, which is set by the player that first purchases the President certificate;
Sales of Stock have the effect of lowering its value but the change does not affect the price the seller receives for that sale;
The Stock Market token is lowered one row for every 10% Share sold;
The President's Stock Certificate may not be sold into the Bank Pool (it can only be disposed of as explained later);
If a player currently possesses more than the allowed number of certificates on his / her turn he / she is compelled to sell one or more Certificates (see Rule 3.5.2).
When selling more than one certificate, the Banker moves the Stock Market token of the Corporations which Stock has been sold in current market value order. This means that if three shares are being sold (in Corporations A, B and C) and they are all on currently the same price (with A on top and C at the bottom of the stack), after the sale the order of the stack remains unchanged.

3.2 - Players' Stock Buying step

During this step a player can either:

Buy one Corporate Stock Certificate at current market value from the Bank Pool, giving the money to the Bank;
Buy one Corporate Stock Certificate at face value from a Corporate IPO, giving the money to the Bank (the Corporation receives 100 % of its starting money (ten times its par value) when at least 60 % of its stock is sold from the IPO.
Pass.

A player cannot buy a Certificate if:

With the purchase the player would exceed the maximum allowed (depending on the number of players, see Rule 3.5.2) Note that this will be reduced by a factor based on the number of corporations that merge with the RTA;
With the purchase the player would own more than the maximum allowed in a Corporation (60%, see Rule 3.5.2);
He / she have sold a Certificate of the same Corporation in the current Stock Round.

3.3 - Corporation Starting step

To start a new Corporation a player has to take its Corporation Charter and then perform the sub-steps described in the following paragraphs.

In the game the following 9 Corporations are included plus the RTA:

Handle	Name	Home Base	Color	# of Tokens
ABC	Akron, Bedford & Cleveland Railroad	Hex K-26	Yellow	3
C&E	Cleveland & Eastern Interurban	Hex E-22	Green	3
CLE	Cincinnati & Lake Erie Railroad Co.	Hex H-3	Orange	3
CMV	Cleveland & Mahoning Valley Railroad Co.	Hex G-18	Gray	3
CSC	Cleveland Southwestern & Columbus Railway Co.	Hex K-10	Tan

3.3.1 - Initial Market Value Fixing sub-step

All Corporations have a par value which is selected by the player who purchases the first share of stock from the corporations IPO (he president's share). Each corporation may have a par value of $100, $90, $82, $76, $72 or $68. The value selected is the cost of each 10% share purchased from the corporation's IPO. Notice the red box that goes down one of the columns on the stock market. This is the starting column and the President of the corporation places the plastic Stock Market token in the appropriate position based on the par value that they selected for their Corporation once 60 % of the IPO has sold out. Place the second plastic par value token in the appropriate grey box located between in the stock market and the hex grid. These are the par value boxes. These tokens may be removed once a corporations' IPO is sold out or the corporation is forced to merge into the RTA.

3.3.2 - Initial Emission sub-step

The President now must buy the President's Certificate. Any player (President included) can buy the other Certificates at face value from the IPO or at current market value from the Bank Pool during their regular Buying step, with the money going to the Bank.

The player remains President as long as no other player accumulates a larger holding of Stock in that Corporation.

3.3.3 - Token Acquiring sub-step

The Corporation now receives all of its station markers. Each public corporation has three wooden station tokens. One for the home base and two expansion stations that may be built later for the appropriate cost listed on the corporate charter. The President then places one token on a vacant station space on its base face down to denote that it has floated, but has not yet operated and therefore does not block any other Corporation that operates ahead of it during the first operating round after the Corporation has successfully floated. The Station token will be turned upright at the beginning of the Corporation's operating step.

3.3.4 - Corporation Starting example

In his / her turn of the third Stock Round of a four player game, player A, with $552 decides to start a Corporation. The Presidential Certificate of the CMV, C&E, LSE, CLE and WWS are still available since the other Corporations were started earlier in the game. Player A takes the CMV Charter and fixes the initial market value at $82. Player A then buys 20% of the Stock (the maximum which can be bought in this phase), giving $164 to the Bank. The Corporation places its starting station for free upside down on Hex G-18; the token will be turned upright once the corporation operates to denote that the token does not yet block the hex. The remaining two station tokens are placed on the Corporation's Charter for future purchase at a cost of $40 and $100 respectively. On his / her turn of the Stock Round, player A will buy another Stock Certificate of the CMV Corporation, which then will leave Player A with $306. This is enough money to purchase three more stock certificates of the CMV Corporation in the following three stock actions for a total cost of $248 leaving player A with $58 left over to purchase other stock from other corporations since Player A's maximum stock limit of 60 % has been reached for Corporation CMV. Once 60 % of CMV Corporation has been sold from the IPO; the Corporation will receive 100% of its starting capital, which is ten times its par value. In CMV Corporation's case; the Treasury would get $820 and be permitted to operate in the next operating round.

3.4 - Stock Round Ending step

During this step the following activities are performed:

The Priority Deal Card is assigned to the player at the left of the last player who did not pass;
The Stock Market token of all the Corporations with no Stock in the Bank Pool or in their IPO is raised one row, unless already on the top row. If the token is on the top row of a column then it is moved one space directly to the right.

3.5 - Stock General Notes

3.5.1 - Stock Valuation and the Stock Market

All Stock transactions take place at the current market value indicated on the Stock Market Chart.

Stock valuation is changed as follows:

During a Stock Round the Stock Market token is moved downwards (i.e. towards the bottom of the chart) one row for each 10% sold into the Bank Pool. This action may be repeated as many times as is necessary but the token cannot be moved further once it reaches the bottom row of the Stock Market Chart. (The token can only be moved straight downwards, it may not be moved sideways in order to achieve a lower row.)
At the end of a Stock Round, if there is no Stock for a particular Corporation remaining in the Bank Pool and in its IPO, its token is moved upwards one row. If the stock value is at the top of a column then it moves one space directly to the right.
Every time a Corporation declares a dividend the Stock Market token is moved one column to the right. If the token has already reached the end of a track it will be moved up one row instead. In this way, any Corporation can theoretically reach a value of $500 given sufficient time and sufficient dividends.
The red line near the bottom of the stock market reduces the amount of spaces that selling off shares will cause the token to move down by exactly one. If the token is on a space directly above the red line and a player sells a single share of stock then the token will not move down, but if a player sells two shares of stock then the marker will be moved down one space.
If the Corporation is active and no dividend is paid (for whatever reason), the Stock Market token is moved one column to the left unless the end of the track prevents this, in which case the token is moved one row downward.

When a token is moved on the Stock Market Chart to indicate a change in a share's price and it enters a square already containing one or more tokens of other Corporations, the shifting token is always placed on the bottom, under any tokens already there.

The Bankers should ensure that the Stock Market Chart is kept up to date.

If the Stock Market Token enters the "Closed" section of the Stock Market Chart then the Corporation is merged with RTA and its station tokens are replaced with RTA tokens. Private Companies that it owned are removed from the game. The Shareholders do not receive any compensation, and the corporate money is returned to the Bank (the Corporation is now a part of RTA and may not be re-opened).

3.5.2 - Limit of Stock Holding

If a corporation's stock value is on a yellow square then the certificates of that corporation do not count toward the player's certificate limit.

If a corporation's stock value is on a green square then same as above plus a player may purchase more then 60% of the corporation.

If a corporation's stock is on a brown square then same as above plus a player may purchase as many shares from the Bank Pool that that desire in a single stock buying action.

A player may never control more than 60% of a single Corporation unless the stock value is on a green or a brown square.

If a player acquires more than the maximum certificate limit (because of losing a Presidency) the situation must be corrected in his / her next turn of the Stock Round.

The maximum number of Stock Certificates a player may hold altogether is given in the table below.

Corporations merging into the RTA reduce the Certificate limit based on how many players there are. In a 3 to 4 player game every corporation that merges into the RTA reduces the certificate limit for each player by one. In a 5 to 6 player game every two companies that merge into the RTA reduces each player's certificate by one, rounding fractions down.

Number of Players	Total Certificate Limit	RTA Limit Reduction
3	21	1
4	18	1
5	15	2
6	12	2

3.5.3 - Change of President

The original President will only retain control of the Corporation as long as another Stockholder does not exceed his / her Stockholding. Another Stockholder may gain control due to purchasing more Stock or because the President has sold Stock. Note there is no change of control just because another Stockholder's holding is equal to the President's.

When a change of control occurs there is an immediate exchange of Stock Certificates to enable the new President to hold the President's Certificate. This is a straightforward exchange, which permits both Stockholders to hold the same percentage of Stock as they did before the exchange took place.

Example: consider two players both holding 30% of the CMV Corporation, with player #1 holding the President's Certificate. If player #2 bought a fourth 10% Certificate, a change of President would immediately take place as player #2's holdings now exceed the President's, 40% to 30%. Player #1 passes the President's Certificate to player #2 in exchange for two 10% Certificates, and passes the Corporation Charter with all its assets.

A player can relinquish his / her position as President in any situation where the necessary amount of Stock can be sold (i.e., no more than 50% of the total shares will appear in the Bank Pool), and provided there is another Stockholder holding at least two 10% Certificates. He / she announces the sale of his / her Stock, exchanges Certificates with the new President, and then places the ordinary Certificates in the Bank Pool. A Presidency cannot be transferred in cases where there is no other Stockholder holding more than one 10% Certificate.

A President's Certificate may never appear in the Bank Pool. Thus, once a President's Certificate is obtained by any player, it will be held by one player for the rest of the game (exception: Rule 7.2). An exchange of Stock Certificates may well result in the out going President holding more Certificates than normally allowed. In such cases, the excess must be sold in the President's next Stock Selling step.

In most cases, the new President is simply the largest Stockholder. If several players have the same Stockholding after the former President has sold Stock (and they now each hold more than the former President) the office passes to the player who is next in line to the left of the old President.

4 - Operating Round

At the beginning of each Operating Round each Private Company owner (either player or Corporation) receives the revenue for each Private Company owned from the Bank. Then every active Corporation operates.

During an Operating round each Corporation may:

Lay (or upgrade) one track tile (Two yellow track tiles may be laid during Phase 2 only);
Purchase one station token (to mark a new railhead);
Run its trains;
Pay or withhold dividends;
Purchase one or more new trains;

The actions of the Corporations are directed by their respective Presidents and are operated according to the sequence discussed below. They will each have the opportunity to construct track, earn revenue, purchase trains, and other financial activities. They may either distribute their earnings as dividends among the Shareholders (raising their Stock value) or retain them to finance further corporate activities (lowering their Stock value).

The Corporations take their turns in order, beginning with the one with the highest current market value. The Banker examines the Stock Market to determine which share has the highest value. This Corporation operates first, then the next highest value, and so on. Note that the RTA starts at a par value of $100 and will only operate for the first time if one of the RTA's two starting conditions have been met and the current operating corporation's stock value is $100 or greater.

The RTA will start when:

A corporation is forced to merge into the RTA because it does not own a train.
After the first 6-train is purchased even if no public corporations have merged into the RTA yet.

The RTA stock token is placed on the bottom of the $100 par value within the stock market. When tokens are in the same space of the Stock Market, the Corporation whose token is on top operates first. When shares of two different Corporations have the same value, but are in different columns, the Corporation whose token is furthest to the right operates first.

These activities must be carried out in the order given. Any that are optional may be skipped. In addition to these activities, a Corporation can buy from a player one or more Private Company(s) at any time during its Operating Round, giving the money to the player.

Any purchase must be made with available funds. Credit is not allowed, even to the end of the same turn. For example, the money required to lay a tile in a river hexagon must be available in the Treasury. Revenues are not available until the Train Running sub-step, and thus cannot be spent on track construction until next turn.

During the later stages of the game the scope for corporate activities expands steadily because of the availability of larger trains that can travel a greater distance and thus earn more revenue per turn, and of more complex designs of track tiles that produce routes that are more elaborate and that also raise station revenue values.

The sequence of routines changes in the later stages of the game, when first two and then three Operating Rounds are performed between each Stock Round. All these changes are directly linked to the types of trains in use, which determines what Phase the game is currently in.

4.1 - Track Laying step

The game board features a hexagonal grid superimposed over a map of Cleveland, Ohio. The boundaries of the map board are the boundaries of Cuyahoga County. The hexagonal tiles may be laid on this grid to construct trolley routes joining the various stations and stops portrayed on the map. Areas of the map colored yellow green and red depict already existing lengths of track. Tiles must not be laid on these red areas, but the other areas may be upgraded as normal. Hexagons colored in yellow cannot be upgraded until green tiles are available.

Each Corporation that is operating may lay one tile during this step, except in phase 2 it may lay two yellow tiles. At first, only yellow tiles are available and these may be placed only on light beige areas of the board. The tile and position chosen must constitute an extension of a route already available to the Corporation building it. The new track must be connected ultimately to a station position occupied by a token of the Corporation. (In the case of tiles that portray two different pieces of track, it is only necessary for one of them to form a legal extension.)

There is only one exception to the rule requiring a tile placement to be an extension of an existing route: the hexagons containing the base tokens of a Corporation. If a hexagon is occupied by one of its tokens, the Corporation may place an appropriate yellow tile on it, regardless of connections.

A tile may not be placed so that:

A track runs off the grid, or
Terminates against the blank side of a red hexagon, or
Terminates against an impassable hex-side.

It may be placed to utilize track on a red hexagon, but this is not required.

Tiles may be laid on clear hexagons without charge but laying a tile on a river hexagons has a cost, which is depicted in the table on the right:

	Yellow Track
Clear	0 TM
River	50 TM

Note that upgrading a tile on a river hex does not cost any additional funds. (The unit is printed as "TM" in the source, transcribed as printed.)

Tiles of the correct type must represent Stations portrayed on the board as reported on the table on the right.

Type of Station	Representation on the Map	Representation on the Tiles
Stop	One black dot	One black cross-bar
Station	One circle	One circle / multiple tangent circles

Tiles representing stops or stations may not be placed on other locations.

When green tiles become available they may, in general, be used to replace yellow tiles that are already on the board. A replacement must maintain all existing tracks, alterations being additions to what was previously depicted. Similarly, when brown tiles become available, they may be used to replace green tiles. Finally, gray tiles may be used to replace brown or green tiles. A list of all legal replacements is given in the appendices for reference.

A Corporation may only replace a tile if it can trace a legal train route of any length from one of its station markers to and along one of the NEW track segments on the new tile, or increase the value of a city it can run to on the new tile. This does not require that the route is actually in use, or even could be used with a train able to travel a sufficient distance, but it must not be closed to the Corporation.

The red hexagons upgrade automatically. Once there is a phase color change immediately use the appropriate colored box to calculate revenue for that hex. The color of the box corresponds to the color of tiles that are currently available to be placed on the map.

Yellow and green tiles, which have been replaced, are available for re-use. Replacing a tile is an alternative to laying a new tile. Brown tiles are only available during phases four and five; after the first 5-train has been purchased up to when the first 8-train is purchased. After this green tiles may be upgraded directly to gray tiles at the following costs:

Upgrading a green stop to a gray stop costs $50.
Upgrading a green station to a gray station costs $100.

The brown phase simulates the Great Depression. All of the values on the brown tiles are lower than their green counterparts. A corporation is motivated to place the brown tiles because as soon as the first 8-train is purchased all of the brown tiles are immediately upgraded to gray tiles for free. These upgrades are an exact replacement keeping all existing track and not adding any additional track to the tile.

Another reason a corporation may want to upgrade from green to brown is the ability to remove its station marker from the hex it is upgrading. A corporation may not remove a station marker from its home base (starting location). The station marker is placed back upon the corporate charter at the highest cost space available and may be re-placed in the future for the cost listed on the charter.

A corporation can upgrade any stop to a brown tile that is already a green tile and that it can trace a legal path too, but a corporation may only upgrade a station tile from green to brown that it has a station marker on.

A green station tile that contains two corporation's station markers that is upgraded from a two-hole to a single-hole brown station tile must obey the following rules:

If the station tile is one of the two corporation's home base, then the other corporation has it's station marker removed from play (placed back on its corporate charter in the highest cost spot available to be placed in the future).
If the station tile is not the home base of either corporation then the corporation that upgrades the tile to brown removes its station marker back to its corporate charter in the highest cost spot available.

These tiles may not be used on any other locations, nor may ordinary tiles be laid on these positions on the board. The orientation of these tiles is restricted by the rules requiring the maintenance of existing track.

Now look at the figure on the right:

The two white circles are station marker locations.
The track sections southeast, southwest, northeast, east and west from the station are standard trolley tracks.
The number 50 within the circle is the revenue value of the station.
The number 41 on the left bottom corner is the tile number.

4.2 - Token Laying step

Tokens designate priority railroad rights when placed on a station. They have two effects:

They prohibit rival Corporations from running train routes beyond the station;
They allow the station to be used as a base for their Corporation's train routes. The token base and the track connecting to it are a Railhead for the Corporation.

When a Corporation starts, one token is placed on its base station. Base stations are pre-determined (see Rule 3.3).

A Corporation may place additional tokens from the Corporation Charter on any permitted location for a cost, which is printed on the Charter. A permitted location is any station, which is connected by a legal route (however long) to a Railhead. Note there must be a vacant space to receive the token on the station concerned. Some station tiles have space for more than one token. In these cases, the station remains open to all until all spaces are occupied. Tokens may not be placed to block the base station of a Corporation that is not yet in operation. Two tokens of the same Corporation may never be placed on the same hexagon. A Corporation may place only one token during this step.

A Corporation may run routes into a station, which is occupied by other tokens, but such a station may only serve as a terminus; the route may not extend past the station. This restriction also applies to the placing of tokens themselves. A Corporation may not place a token on a station that can only be reached by passing through a station, which is entirely blocked by other Corporation's tokens.

The requirement for a legal route between the new token and a Railhead is waived if the Corporation owns the Terminal Tower Private Company and may place a token in Hex F-17 even if it can not trace a legal path to this hexagon.

4.3 - Trains Running step

During this step, a Corporation can run its train(s) to generate revenue. The President then chooses if the revenue is to be kept in the Corporation Treasury or to be distributed to the Shareholders. In the first case the Corporation's token on the Stock Market is moved one column to the left; otherwise it is moved one column to the right.

Wealth being the objective of the game, and Corporation revenue being one of the principal methods of gaining wealth, it follows that the planning of remunerative routes and the provision of trains to run them is of paramount significance to the strategy of this game.

4.3.1 - Routes Selecting sub-step

During this activity the President must select the route of each of his / her trains. A route is a length of track joining two or more stations or stops. It must be continuous and it must not involve reversing across junctions, changing track at crossovers, or traveling the same track section twice. A route that enters a station down one line may, however, leave along any other line.

When two or more routes are being run in the same turn by the same Corporation (i.e., two or more trains are operating) they must all be separate along their entire length, except that they may meet or cross at stations, or use two independent tracks on the same tile.

Every route used by a Corporation must include at least one station occupied by that Corporation's token. Initially, such a station is very likely to be the Corporation's base station, but as the game progresses, Corporations may operate from other stations that provide the base for routes that are more lucrative.

A train may be used on a shorter route than the maximum allowed if desired or when a maximum route does not exist.

A route must include at least two stations or stops. A route can include any number of stops, but may only include a number of stations equal to the current train level. Example: a 3 train may have five stops on its route, but may not have more than three stations. Normally a train must start and stop at a station unless the only route available is between a station and a stop. A route must include at least one station (with the Corporation's token) and one station or stop.

4.3.2 - Revenue sub-step

All stations and stops on either the tiles or the board are marked with revenue values, which can vary from $10 to $120. The revenue, which is earned each time a train is run on the route, is the total of all the revenue values of the stations (stops and ferries) concerned.

Example: a train running a route through cities of 30, 20 and 20 revenue values would earn $70 revenue.

The highest legal revenue that can be demonstrated must be collected, although sharp-eyed players are not required to point out higher possible revenue than claimed.

6D-trains operate slightly different than all of the other trains. The 6D run may include as many stops as possible and generates revenue from them as normal, but it may only count six stations for its run. Each of the six stations' revenue values are doubled when calculating the amount of revenue generated by a 6D-train.

The President decides whether the revenue should be paid as dividends or diverted into the Corporate Treasury. If a dividend is paid, the total earnings from all the trains owned by the Corporation are paid out to the Stockholders (10% for each 10% Stock held). The Corporation receives the payment due to any Stock in the Bank Pool, while nobody gets payments due any Stock in the Corporations IPO.

Example: consider a Corporation where the President owns 50% of the Stock, 20% remains unsold in the Corporate IPO and 30% is in the Bank Pool. If the Corporation's revenue is $50 and a dividend is declared, the player holding 50% receives $25, $15 goes into the Corporation's treasury, and the other $10 remains in the Bank.

If no dividend is paid, the entire earnings are passed to the Corporation. The Stock valuation is then adjusted on the Stock Market as per Rule 3.5.1.

4.4 - Train Acquiring step

A Corporation can buy one train (only) from the Bank (at face value) or from another Corporation (at any price, minimum $1). This step can be repeated several times, until the Corporation reaches the train limit or runs out of funds. If a train bought from the Bank is the first of a new class, a new Game Phase begins immediately, with some alterations to the standard rules. Phase Two begins with the beginning of the game, Phase Three begins with the first 3-train sold, Phase Four with the first 4-train, Phase Five with the first 5-train, etc.

Trains are bought from the Bank in order of increasing size. The smallest, the 2s, are bought first. When all the 2-trains have been sold then the 3-trains become available, then the 4-trains etc.

Depending on the game Phase currently in effect, a Corporation may own a specified maximum number of trains.

A Corporation that finds itself with an excess of trains, must immediately return the surplus to the Bank. No payment is made for them, but they may be re-sold by the Bank as an alternative to whatever other trains are on offer (if they are of a type still in use). Re-sale is at face value.

Here on the right you can see a complete list of the number of trains of each type.

Train Class	Number Available	Cost
2	9	$80
3	6	$180
4	4	$300
5	3	$450
6	3	$630
8	4	$800
10	4	$950
6D	9	$1100

Example: during Phase Five of the game a Corporation owning two 4 trains may buy the first 6 train offered because prior to this sale the Corporation was allowed to hold three trains. Immediately after the purchase, however, the Corporation must return one of its trains to the Bank as it is now over the new train limit of two.

Example: during Phase Six of the game a Corporation owning two 4 trains may not buy the first 8 train offered because of the train limit of two, even if the beginning of Phase Six would eliminate the 4 trains.

Trains may be purchased either from the Bank at face value or from another Corporation at any mutually agreed price. Whenever a Corporation purchases a train from another the transfer takes place in the purchaser's turn. Corporations may buy trains from each other for at least $1.

Any Corporation that is operating must have at least one train during its turn of an Operating Round unless there is no route available on which it could possibly run. Otherwise, a Corporation that begins its turn of an Operating Round without a train must purchase one during that turn.

4.4.1 - Emergency Money Raising sub-step

A Corporation must perform this sub-step if all the following apply:

The Corporation currently has no train;
The Corporation is compelled to have a train;
The Corporate money is less than the amount required to buy the cheapest train available from the Bank;
The President of the Corporation cannot (or does not want) arrange a deal to buy a train from another Corporation with the available money.
The corporation is not forced to merge with the RTA per Rule Section 7.

During this sub-step the President has to respond to the situation with his / her personal properties, at first by giving to the Corporation his / her Personal Money, then by selling, if necessary, his / her Stock Certificates and giving the money so earned to the Corporation. This sale cannot cause a Presidency shift of the currently operating Corporation.

If the money is not enough the Corporation has to declare bankruptcy and is merged with the RTA including all of its tokens and Certificates (Private Companies included). The Shareholders do not receive any compensation, and the corporate money is returned to the Bank.

In case of bankruptcy, the unlucky President's properties are reduced to zero. In this case he / she must leave the game. It is very difficult to go bankrupt since the RTA is acquiring corporation at the start of every phase in which trains rust and a corporation does not possess a train. You may still attempt to pay out of pocket by purchasing all trains from one corporation into another as long as a phase change does not occur while the corporation is train-less it will not be merged into the RTA.

4.4.2 - Train Purchasing sub-step

During this sub-step, the money is paid to the Bank or to the selling Corporation, and the train is transferred to the Corporation's train pool. A Corporation that has collected money through Rule 4.4.1 must buy the cheapest train available from the Bank (this could be a train previously discarded by another Corporation); it cannot buy a train from another Corporation.

4.4.3 - Game Phase Change step

This step is performed whenever the first train of a new type is bought, as some aspect of the game changes immediately. The following table depicts all the game changes:

	Phase 2	Phase 3	Phase 4	Phase 5	Phase 6	Phase 8	Phase 10	Phase 12
Phase Change	Game Start	1st 3	1st 4	1st 5	1st 6	1st 8	1st 10	1st 6D
Trains Available	2	3	4	5	6	8	10	6D
Rusted Trains	None	None	2

4.4.3.1 - General Notes

At the beginning of Phases Four and Six the maximum number of trains allowed to a Corporation changes. A Corporation, which finds itself with excess trains, must immediately return the surplus to the Bank. The President chooses which train to discard. No payment is made for discarded trains but they may be re- sold by the Bank as an alternative to whatever other trains are on offer (if they are of a type still in use). Re-sale is at face value.

4.4.4 - Train Acquiring step ending

If the Corporation has not reached its train limit, wants to buy another train, and has enough money, then the Train Acquiring step can be repeated.

4.5 - Private Company Acquiring

(From Phase Two to Phase Five)

A Corporation can buy from a player one or more Private Companies at any time during its Operating Round, giving the money to the player.

The RTA may not purchase any of the Private Companies.

A Private Company cannot be traded once it belongs to a Corporation.

The trading price can be set anywhere between half the face value and twice the face value.

5 - Standings Round

The game can end in either of three ways, whichever happens first: when a Stock Market token reaches the $500 value, when all nine public companies merge into RTA or when the Bank runs out of money.

If a Corporation's market value reaches $500 the game ends at the end of the Operating Round of the CURRENTLY OPERATING Corporation. Corporations that have not yet operated for this Operating Round lose their turns. If a Corporation's market value reaches $500 at the end of a Stock Round, the game immediately ends.

If the Bank runs out of money the game ends on the completion of the current Operating Round that is currently in progress, unless a Corporation's market value first reaches $500, in which case the game ends after the turn of the Corporation whose Stock is valued at $500. If the Bank is depleted during a Stock Round, the sequence of events must be played out to the end of the next series of Operating Rounds. For example, if the Bank runs out of money in a Stock Round, the Stock Round and the number of Operating Rounds which would normally take place must be completed before the game is ended. If the Bank runs out during the first Operating Round of three, complete this Operating Round. During this time all payouts that cannot be met from the Bank should be recorded on paper and added to the players' scores at the end of the game. If preferred, all players may be asked to contribute an equal sum of the Bank to allow normal payouts to continue.

When the game ends, the players determine their wealth by summing up the value of all their possessions (money and Corporation Stock). Corporate money and trains do not count, while player(s), who have gone bankrupt, as per Rule 4.5.1, have a final position of $0.

The wealthiest player wins.

6 - Glossary

Bank Pool: The place where Certificates are held which a player or Corporation has sold during their respective Stock Selling steps. The Bank Pool can never contain more than half of the Stock of a single Corporation.

Corporate money: All the money owned by a Corporation.

Corporation Charter: The Corporation Charter is the place where a Corporation keeps all its assets. The tokens, trains (when these have been acquired), Stock, and money in the Treasury are placed on the appropriate positions on the Corporation Charter. The tokens available and the number and type of trains owned must be clearly visible for inspection by other players. The money may be kept in a stack, but other players can verify the amount. It is very important that these funds be kept strictly separate from the player's own reserve of cash. Consequently, corporate funds must always be held on the Corporation Charter.

Personal money: All the money owned by a player. Other players can freely verify the amount.

Personal Stock: All the Stock Certificates owned by a player.

7 – RTA Rules

The Regional Transit Authority (RTA) does not function in the same way as the public corporations. The RTA is a government controlled entity. Players may not purchase RTA stock, which can only be obtained from public corporations merging into the RTA or by obtaining the Priority Deal Card. Section 2.4.5.1 contains the rules for how many shares of stock are gained from a public corporation merging into the RTA. A public corporation will merge into the RTA if it does not own any trains immediately after a phase change that causes trains to rust has occurred. Corporations that have never operated will not merge into the RTA for lack of trains. I.E after the first 6-train is purchased all 3-trains rust and any company that does not possess a train after the 3-trains rust is forced to merge into the RTA. The RTA will begin its operations during an operation round in which a public corporation merges into the RTA or after the first 6-train is purchased even if no public corporations have yet been forced to merge into the RTA. Section 4 further explains when the RTA operates for the first time. Note that the RTA stock token does not move back the first time RTA operates due to the RTA not owning a train, but remains in place at the $100 space on the stock market chart. In future operating round the RTA must pay out dividends and its stock token is moved one space directly to the right every operating round. The RTA charter is on the map board in the lower left hand corner. Note that the RTA never has any money in a treasury. When the RTA purchases a train it simply takes the next available train for free. The following sections will further explain how the RTA operates.

7.1 – RTA Split Operations

The RTA is not operated by a single player, but by a team of three players determined by the seating position of the players relative to the player holding the Priority Deal card. If a player is seated adjacent to the player holding the Priority Deal card or is the player Holding the Priority Deal card then they are on RTA's board of directors. More specifically: the players directly to the right and left of the player holding the Priority Deal Card make up the board of directors. The board of directors controls the RTA temporarily. The board of directors will change at the end of each stock round based on which player has the Priority Deal Card.

7.2 – RTA Merger Operations

If a public corporation(s) is / are forced to merge with the RTA, then stock is traded in at the exchange rate described in section 2.4.5.1. The public corporation that triggered the phase change and is currently operating finishes its turn first. Then the player who owns the corporation that triggered the phase change will get to trade his / her stock in first if they own any stock of the merging corporation(s). This process will proceed around the table in a clock-wise fashion one player at a time.

This is done in case the 5% shares of RTA stock that are available run out. Once the 5% shares available for the RTA have all been distributed to the players; the remaining players will receive no compensation for their stock. Note that the RTA will still operate at its regular turn sequence even if a merged public corporation has already operated during the current operating round. Any privates that are owned by a public corporation that is forced to merge with the RTA are closed immediately. The RTA does not gain any special abilities from any of the privates.

7.3 – RTA Track Laying

The player directly to the right of the player holding the Priority Deal Card may optionally lay one yellow tile or upgrade one track tile that the RTA can legally reach or pass. This tile placement or upgrade may not cost any money such as placing a yellow tile on a river hex or upgrading a green station to a gray station. After this optional tile placement; the player directly to the left of the player holding the Priority Deal Card may optionally place one yellow tile or upgrade one tile that the RTA can legally reach or pass. Again, this tile placement or upgrade may not cost any money such as placing a yellow tile on a river hex or upgrading a green station to a gray station. Finally the player holding the Priority Deal card must place one yellow tile or upgrade one tile that the RTA can legally reach. This tile may have a cost to it. If the tile placement has a cost, then there is a vote by the three players that make up RTA's board of directors. The player holding the Priority Deal Card is automatically voting yes for the tile placement, since it was they who proposed it. A simple two-thirds majority is needed to place or upgrade the tile. If both of the other players vote against the tile placement or upgrade then the player holding the Priority Deal Card loses their tile placement for the RTA this operating round.

7.4 – RTA Trains and Train Limit

The RTA purchases one train per operating round up to it's current train limit during the RTA's normal train purchasing step even if it has space to purchase additional trains. The RTA 'takes' a train, since it does not have a treasury. The RTA is operating with tax payer money and funds are assumed to be unlimited. Trains will rust for the RTA as they do for public corporations. If the RTA does not own a train and it is not the first time the RTA's has operated, then its stock token will be moved to the left one space on the stock market.

The RTA has a train limit of 1 + n, where n is the number of public corporations that have merged into the RTA.

Example: The RTA owns a 6-Train and an 8-Train. This is the third time that the RTA is operating during the game. The ABC and the CSC have previously merged into the RTA, so the RTA has a train limit of three. During RTA's third operation; the board of directors may place or upgrade up to three tiles(one upgrade or tile placement per board member), then the RTA will operate its 6-Train and 8-Train. If any players can determine a more profitable train run then the run with the highest value must be used. Dividends are always paid out. The stock market token advances one space to the right on the stock market. Then the RTA will take the next available train, which happens to be a 10-train. This action will end the RTA current operation round.

No trains may ever be bought from or sold to public corporations by the RTA. All of RTA's trains are purchased from the stack of available trains only (The Bank).

The RTA is mostly composed of 5 % shares. Although these shares are only 5 %; each one counts as a full certificate toward a Players maximum certificate limit. The 10% president share of the RTA, which is located on the reverse side of the Priority Deal card, does not count toward certificate limit. The 10% president share can never be sold and is considered to not be owned by any player during a stock round and during the final scoring round. After RTA trains have run each player will receive dividends at ½ the rate of public corporations, since the RTA shares are 5% shares. For example if the RTA generates a total of $200 in revenue, then each player will receive $10 for each 5% RTA share that they possess.

7.5 – RTA Tokens

The RTA has two sets of tokens. The first set is station tokens. There are six station tokens total. These tokens are used for the RTA's initial home bases, which are Public Square and Hopkins and are marked on the game board with RTA inside the station circles. The remaining four station tokens are used to expand RTA's network. The President of the board of directors, who is the player that obtained the Priority Deal card at the end of the previous stock round, must place a single station token during a complete set of operating rounds. Note that this placement is mandatory, but the token may always be placed somewhere that is not very beneficial to operation of the RTA. The token must be placed in a spot that is legal following all of the normal rules for token placement.

The second set of tokens is referred to as 'replacement stations'. There are nine replacement tokens total. These tokens are swapped for the previous placed station tokens of public corporation that merge into the RTA. These tokens do not follow the normal rules for token placement and happen at the moment that the public corporation merges with the RTA. There are no connection rules for placement of these tokens, but the RTA can not have more than one token in a single hex.

Example: Late in the game the SHR merges with the RTA. The SHR and RTA both have tokens in the Public Square space. The SHR also has its home base station and never placed its third token on the game board. In this case the SHR token located in Public Square would be removed without another RTA token being swapped into the spot, since the RTA already has a token in the Public Square hex. The SHR's home base token would be replaced with one of the RTA's replacement tokens. Finally, the station token that is still on the SHR's corporate charter is simple removed from play.

8 – Historical Notes

Cleveland, Ohio was the third largest city in the United States for a period from the Great Depression up until World War II. It was the first city in the world that connected its international airport to the city center by trolley car. Akron, Ohio was the first city in the world to have electrified rail lines. Every corporation used in this game is real. I was able to find the corporate logos for all of the corporations except the CMV and WWS. The CLE mostly had passenger service from southern Ohio to Toledo, but it did run a passenger line from Toledo to Cleveland using the rails that the LSE constructed.

Historical facts about the privates used in 18CLE:

The Euclid Railroad never owned any rolling stock. It leased its rolling stock from the Nickel Plate Railroad based in Columbus Ohio. The Euclid Railroad was supposed to connect South Euclid to Euclid, but it never finished the line and was bought out by the Nickel Plate Railroad.
The West Side Market is actually located in Ohio City and that is why a special bonus marker is provided if used to upgrade Ohio City. The West Side Market is still operating today.
The Union Depot was the first major passenger terminal constructed in Cleveland. By the 1920's it was old and run down. The Cleveland City Council wanted to demolish it and construct the Terminal Tower, but the Union Depot was still being used by the Pennsylvania Railroad. Eventually the Union Depot was demolished after the construction of the Terminal Tower.
The Central Viaduct was the first rail bridge to cross the Cuyahoga River. Previous to its construction all passengers heading east had to disembark at Whiskey Island and take a ferry across the river. The Cleveland City Council strongly opposed the construction of the Central Viaduct because of the tax revenue generated locally by travelers heading from Chicago to New York being forced to stop in Cleveland.
Azko Nobel originally had a temporary lease to build a salt mine on Whiskey Island that went under Lake Erie. The Cleveland City Council kept renewing the lease since the salt deposit was far larger than anyone estimated. The salt mine is still owned and operated by Azko Nobel today.
The Terminal Tower was originally built for the Shaker Heights Rapid (SHR). The SHR was the first company to have a station in the Terminal Tower and the SHR's special ability to operate first gives it an edge in the game to not be blocked from reaching Public Square (where the Terminal Tower was built).
The Cleveland, Painesville & Ashtabula Railroad was a subsidiary of the CPE.
Cleveland & Berea Street Railroad Company was originally a stage coach company that took passengers from Berea to Cleveland's city center. The railroad would grow to become known as the Southwestern System and offer passenger service from Cleveland to Columbus, Ohio via Mansfield, Ohio.

The Akron, Bedford & Cleveland Railroad (ABC) was historically based in Akron, but for game balancing purposes it is based in Bedford. The ABC's special ability to double Akron is both representative of:

Akron was where most of the ABC's revenue was generated historically.
Akron was the first city to have electrified rail lines.

There were three major mergers in the Cleveland trolley business, which are all represented by the RTA:

The Cleveland City Railway Co., a.k.a. Little-Consolidated was formed in 1893.
Cleveland Electric Railway Co., a.k.a. Big-Consolidated was formed in 1903.
The Cleveland Transportation System (CTS) was formed in 1942 when the city of Cleveland bought out the merged trolley companies. The CTS was reformed into the RTA in 1974 and its influence was extended to include all of Cuyahoga County, which is the entire 18CLE game board.

18CLE - Appendices

1 - Tiles available

In the game are included 48 yellow tiles, 45 green tiles, 19 brown tiles, and 27 gray tiles for a total of 139 tiles.

1.1 - Yellow tiles

Tile #	Qty.	Green Substitutions	Map Prerequisites
9	6	83, 82, 44, 47	Clear, River
8	4	83, 82, 81, 80, 47	Clear, River
7	4	83, 82, 80, 44	Clear, River
4	8	CLE1, CLE2	Stop
58	8	CLE1, CLE2, CLE3*	Stop
3	6	CLE1, CLE2, CLE3	Stop
57

1.2 - Green tiles

Tile #	Qty.	Brown Substitutions	Gray Substitutions	Yellow Prerequisites
758	1	CLE7	CLE17 (+$100)	Hex E-18
83	4	None	None	9, 8, 7
82	4	None	None	9, 8, 7
81	2	None	None	8
80	2	None	None	8, 7

*Note that there is a tile misprint: The printed #20 tile should be CLE3 as read in the tile charts.

1.3 - Brown tiles

Tile #	Qty.	Gray Substitutions	Green Prerequisites
767	4	CLE10	CLE1, CLE2, CLE3*
768	4	CLE13	CLE1, CLE2
769	4	CLE9	CLE1, CLE2, CLE3*
CLE7	1	CLE17	758
CLE4	2	CLE11	185, 186
CLE5	2	OE34	185, 186
CLE6

1.4 - Gray tiles

Tile #	Qty.	Green Prerequisites	Brown Prerequisites	Map Prerequisites
CLE13	4	CLE1, CLE2 (+$50)	768	Stop
CLE9	4	CLE1, CLE2, CLE3 (+$50)	769	Stop
CLE10	4	CLE1, CLE2, CLE3 (+$50)	767	Stop
CLE11	2	None	CLE4	Station
OE34	2	None	CLE5	Station

18CLE - Sequence of Play

Starting Round

Seat Assignment
Initial Money Assignment
Corporation Sorting
Private Companies Assignment

Stock Round

Players' Stock Selling
Players' Stock Buying
Corporation Starting
Stock Round Ending

Operating Round

Private Companies' Revenue
Track Laying
Token Laying
Trains Running
- Routes Selecting
- Revenue
Train Acquiring

Standings Round